A former Miss Universe caused a row with animal rights campaigners after posting a picture of herself with an endangered monkey dressed in tartan.

Russian born Natalie Glebova now lives in Thailand and posed for a pic with the "cutest gibbon " which she shared on social media.

The beauty queen, 33, made a new life for herself in Thailand after marrying Thai tennis player Paradorn Srichaphan and carried on living there even though they separated in 2011.

She had won the Miss Universe 2005 and remains a regular on Thai television, so when she posted a picture of herself on Instagram at a market in Ton Sai beach near Krabi, a southern province of Thailand, it was instantly seen by thousands of followers.

She wrote: "Cutest gibbon in the cutest little outfit!"

The photograph showed the former beauty queen smiling and holding the baby gibbon, which had been dressed up in a tartan apron.

Monkey Row: Natalie Glebova has been criticised after posing for a selfie - with a gibbon (Image: CEN)

But instead of seeing fans agree with her about the cute gibbon, she ended up being bombarded with allegations that she was naive and was supporting a sick trade in the use of wild animals for tourists to take selfies with.

And although she rushed to delete the photo as the storm of protest followed its publication, it was too late as the image went viral.

The Russian born beauty queen who studied gymnastics and the piano when at school had emigrated to Canada with her parents when she was 13-years-old. She later graduated with a degree in IT from Ryerson University in Toronto before becoming Miss Universe.

Beauty Queen: Natalie was born in Russia and won the beauty contest in 2005 (Image: Getty)

Police in the region confirmed that they aware of the Instagram post, and were looking not only for the protected gibbon but also the man who had been offering tourists the chance to pose with it for a photograph.

Lt Col Danai Niyomdecha of Phi Phi Islands Police said: "We will try to track down and apprehend the owner of the gibbon and have the animal confiscated."

Plans are underway to set up a new office in the area that will be responsible for protected species and other animals in the park, explained Phi Phi National Park Assistant Manager Boonname Chauyradom.

He said: "Construction of the new office is already underway. We hope it will be operational very soon."